Cyprus, 1960--1970: An intellectual history of the Cold War toll, the United Nations, and Decolonization

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the self-interests of the three guarantors, Great Britain, Turkey, and Greece, that diminished their performance as trustworthy guarantors of the peace in Cyprus beginning on Independence Day, August 16, 1960, and to prove using postcolonial theory that largely because of the Cold War, though, not entirely, the Cypriots were marginalized until the arrival of the United Nations peacekeeping force, UNFICYP. An intellectual history, this dissertation uses an academic approach, which includes trends in ideas and thought, such as the rise in pluralism and democracy with the post-World War II decolonization effort to secure world peace, the anti-war demonstrations, and the decline of the influence of Marxist theory, particularly in England, due to the invasion of Hungary in 1956 and subsequent oppression by the Soviet Union. Evidence from the National Archives of the United Kingdom in the September 2012 tranche proves the postcolonial theory that attitudes of the "other," or in other words, perceptions of prejudice, on the part of the three guarantors were present and influenced the actions of the political leaders. This dissertation analyzes how and why these attitudes or perceptions of irreconcilability began to change.